1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy gun to which a gas cartridge filled with compressed gas can be attached and which fires a bullet utilizing the injection pressure of the compressed gas.
2. Description of Related Art
Toy guns to which a gas cartridge filled with compressed gas of carbon dioxide or the like can be attached and which fire a bullet utilizing the injection pressure of the compressed gas conventionally exist. The compressed gas is discharged according to operation with the trigger provided in the toy gun and hits a bullet loaded in the toy gun to fire the bullet. In such a toy gun, the following are both important: that a gas cartridge is reliably attached and does not come off and that a gas cartridge can be easily replaced.
FIG. 4, FIG. 6, FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539 will be referred to. A cartridge housing portion 2 for housing a high-pressure gas cartridge A is formed in the grip portion 1 of the air gun G described in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539. The cartridge housing portion 2 is open in a side surface of the grip portion 1.
A clamp lever portion 30 is attached to the area extended from the rear part to the lower part of the grip portion 1. The clamp lever portion 30 can be rotated around a lever rotation shaft 5 provided on the bottom surface 4 of the grip portion 1. For this reason, a user of the air gun G can pull down the clamp lever portion 30 to the rear side of the air gun G. A roller portion 6 is provided above the lever rotation shaft 5 in the clamp lever portion 30. The roller portion 6 has a rotating shaft in the center thereof and can be freely rotated around the rotating shaft. The roller portion 6 forms a pressing portion that presses the bottom portion A1 of the high-pressure gas cartridge A. Patent Document 1 describes that the pressing portion may be comprised of a columnar member that does not rotate.
When a back grip panel 3 is pulled down backward, the roller portion 6 retreats and a high-pressure gas cartridge A can be attached to or detached from the cartridge housing portion 2 from the lateral side of the grip portion 1. (Refer to FIG. 6 in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539.) When the back grip panel 3 is pushed back forward with the high-pressure gas cartridge A attached to the cartridge housing portion 2, the roller portion 6 presses the bottom portion A1 of the high-pressure gas cartridge A to push the high-pressure gas cartridge A upward. (Refer to FIG. 8 and FIG. 10 in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539.)
In the air gun G described in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539, the following procedure must be taken to reliably house the high-pressure gas cartridge A in the cartridge housing portion 2: with the roller portion 6 pushing the high-pressure gas cartridge A upward, the clamp lever portion 30 must be firmly fixed to prevent the displacement thereof. In this case, a user is required to move the clamp lever portion 30 with very strong force to attach or detach the high-pressure gas cartridge A. For this reason, the clamp lever portion 30 provided in the air gun G is hard for a user to handle.
To enhance the handiness of the clamp lever portion 30, a tab portion to be pinched by a user could be provided in the clamp lever portion 30. However, if the tab portion is provided, the design of the clamp lever portion 30 will be impaired.